App takes back control of personal data

Government & Defence

A new service hopes to allow users to take back control of their personal data usage.

There has been a lot of discussion about ways that people can gain more control over their personal data. At Springwise, we have seen innovations in privacy that include a router that protects data in the home and an encryption tool that can protect the personal data of ride hailing users. A startup called Digi.me has now created a “permission access platform” for personal data. The company’s app allows users to collect data from other companies and social networks and bring it all together in one place. Digi.me itself doesn’t view or store any of the downloaded personal data. Instead, the user dictates the storage location, such as on a hard drive or a cloud storage service.

So far, Digi.me allows users to download data from services such as Facebook, Fitbit, Spotify and medical record aggregator site MyChart. Digi.me’s app allows users to extract information from the data, such as finding out if social media use affects purchase history. In the future, Digi.me will allow users to create personalised widgets to analyse their data any way they wish. Users can also choose to share their personal data with businesses in exchange for services or rewards. The company makes money from data delivery fees – transaction fees paid when a client consents to share their data.

Digi.me claims that bringing data together in one place will help users “redefine the relationship they have with their data, and with businesses and services that use it”. Businesses will benefit from access to richer, more accurate data with full user permission. This therefore allows them to better understand their customers’ wants and needs. According to Founder and Executive Chairman Julian Ranger, “By accessing rich data, on a consented basis, innovation can flourish.”

Discover more innovations helping users to get back control of their data in our latest Top 5 feature.

Takeaway:

Consumers are often unaware of how much data they hand over to companies. Yet innovations such as this might enlighten users as to how their personal data is used. How might such developments affect consumer-company relationships in future?